Windshield repair has been performed starting in the early 1970's and continues to the present. UV light has been used as a curing method for the liquid material used in the glass repair process. This has been accomplished primarily in two ways, one: natural UV light from the sun, or two: UV light generated by a UV lamp such as a fluorescent or incandescent type bulb. All methods until the present invention use a separate UV lamp product as a light source.
Windshield repair may be conducted using a bridge, which is an apparatus used to hold a resin injection system over the glass damage area so vacuum and pressure cycles can effectively remove trapped air from the glass damaged area. The pressure cycle is needed to fill glass damage with a UV curable liquid resin material. All current methods use an independent separate lamp product, typically a fluorescent UV lamp or direct sunlight for the curing process.
Typical curing does not address the glass damage area directly under the injector seal because the UV light cannot penetrate beyond the seals. All current seals are constructed of either a solid rubber such as Buna-N or opaque silicone material. All current curing under a pressure cycle require two steps. First a curing of the damage area outside the perimeter of the injector seal, then the removal of the injector so as to expose the area directly under the injector called the “Repair Pit”. Once the injector is removed this area can be exposed to UV Light for curing of the resin.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,898,372 to Boyle et al discloses a lamp system for curing resin in glass in which an annular or round shaped lamp is used to “accommodate the resin injection system.” In Boyle et al, the bulb housing has a hole, proximately at a center of the substantially annular shape of the bulb housing, configured to accommodate the resin injection system. As a result, the light bulb and the bulb housing surround the resin injection system with a relatively large diameter.
However, in the system of Boyle et al, the annular fluorescent light source is specifically designed to be annular to facilitate the needed and separate resin injection system (“having a top and a hole in the top, proximately at a center of the substantially annular shape of the bulb bossing to facilitate operation of the injection system, said housing configured to accommodate the resin injection system”). This system has a separate housing for resin injection and a separate housing for the lamp. The center open area of the round or annular lamp allows for the placement of an injection system. The two apparatus are separate and operate independently of each other. While the two apparatuses can be made to connect to each other they are still separate and work independently of each other.